Disclosure of Invention
The object of the present invention is to propose an improved method and system for exchanging data about an automotive vehicle.
To this end, the invention is directed to a method of exchanging data between users of a vehicle, said users comprising a primary user having a first personal electronic device and a secondary user having a second personal electronic device, wherein said method comprises a preparation phase comprising the steps of:
1a) entering a first email address belonging to said primary user into said first personal electronic device and installing a dedicated application on said first personal electronic device;
1b) the application installed on the first personal electronic device is connected to an information cloud;
1c) said cloud assigning a first mobile identifier to said application already installed on said first personal electronic device;
1d) said application program already installed on said first personal electronic device sending data to a remote server, said data comprising said first email address and said first mobile identifier;
2a) entering a second email address belonging to said secondary user into said second personal electronic device and installing a dedicated application on said second personal electronic device;
2b) said application installed on said second personal electronic device connecting to said cloud;
2c) the cloud assigning a second mobile identifier to the application already installed on the first personal electronic device;
2d) said application program installed on said second personal electronic device sending data to said remote server, said data including said second electronic mail address and said second mobile identifier;
the method further comprises a transmission phase comprising the steps of:
3a) said application program already installed on said first personal electronic device sending data to said remote server, said data comprising said second email address and instructions for transmitting information about said vehicle;
3b) the remote server sending data to the cloud, the data including the second mobile identifier and information about the vehicle;
3c) the cloud sends information about the vehicle to the application installed on the second personal electronic device.
The invention thus allows a practical, efficient and safe exchange of data about the vehicle. With the present invention, the exchange can be automated without the user having to worry about the digital identification key. These exchanges are all performed by means of a dedicated application running on the personal electronic device. The only data to be handled by the user are e-mail addresses, which are common and relatively simple.
Other advantageous features of the invention will appear, alone or in combination, on reading the following description.
Preferably, instep 3c), the cloud uses the second mobile identifier in order to identify a temporary identifier, such as an IP address, temporarily assigned to the second personal electronic device, and then uses said temporary identifier in order to send information about the vehicle to the second personal electronic device.
According to a preferred embodiment, the preparation phase also comprises astep 1e) in which the remote server sends certain data relating to the vehicle to the first personal electronic device. In particular, these data may be sent to a dedicated application already installed on the first personal electronic device.
According to particular embodiments, the information about the vehicle includes customizable vehicle parameters including, for example, seat position, air conditioning and heating system adjustments, and radio settings.
According to an advantageous embodiment, the vehicle is equipped with a keyless entry system. In this case, the information about the vehicle includes an identification key. The identification key, upon receipt by an application installed on the first personal electronic device or the second personal electronic device, authorizes the first personal electronic device or the second personal electronic device to connect to a keyless entry system for entering the vehicle.
Preferably, the first personal electronic device is a mobile phone. Alternatively, the first personal electronic device is an electronic watch, a digital tablet or a passive entry card.
Also preferably, the second personal electronic device is a mobile telephone. Alternatively, the second personal electronic device is an electronic watch, a digital tablet, or a passive entry card.
The object of the invention is also a system for exchanging data between users of a vehicle, said users comprising primary users and secondary users. The system comprises:
-a vehicle drivable by the primary user or the secondary user;
-a first personal electronic device carried by the primary user and configured for storing a first email address belonging to the primary user and for running a dedicated application;
-a second personal electronic device carried by said secondary user and configured for storing a second email address belonging to said secondary user and for running a dedicated application;
-an information cloud configured for assigning a first mobile identifier to the application already installed on the first personal electronic device and also assigning a second mobile identifier to the application already installed on the second personal electronic device;
-a remote server configured to store data received from said first personal electronic device, said data comprising said first email address and said first mobile identifier, and further to store data received from said second personal electronic device, said data comprising said second email address and said second mobile identifier; and
-a communication chain from the first personal electronic device to the second personal electronic device, the communication chain being configured such that when the application already installed on the first personal electronic device sends data comprising the second email address and instructions for transmitting information relating to the vehicle to the remote server, the remote server sends data comprising the second mobile identifier and information relating to the vehicle to the cloud, and the cloud then sends information relating to the vehicle to the application already installed on the second personal electronic device.
The object of the present invention is also a software application configured in such a way as to be installed and executed on a personal electronic device, wherein said application comprises a code segment for performingsteps 1b) to 1d) or 2b) to 2d) and a code segment for performing steps 3a) and/or 3c) by the above-defined method when said application is executed on said personal electronic device.
Preferably, the application has a code segment for performingsteps 1e), 1f) and 3d) described in detail below.
Detailed Description
In the preferred embodiment shown in fig. 1-3, thesystem 100 includes anautomotive vehicle 3, a firstmobile phone 10, a secondmobile phone 20, aremote data server 30, and aninformation cloud 40.
Thevehicle 3 is designed to be driven by a user who is a driver. Thevehicle 3 may be driven alternately by various users including theprimary user 1 and thesecondary user 2.
Typically, theprimary user 1 is the owner of thevehicle 3, while thesecondary user 2 is a co-worker, friend or family member of theprimary user 1.
Phone 10 belongs touser 1 andphone 20 belongs touser 2.
Thevehicle 3 includes adjustable parameters P3, which may be customized by theusers 1 and 2. As an example, these parameters P3 may include seat position, air conditioning and heating system adjustments, and radio settings.Other vehicle 3 parameters P3 may be customized without departing from the scope of the present invention.
Thevehicle 3 is equipped with akeyless entry system 4. Thesystem 4 can be used to automatically open and close the opening of thevehicle 3 by theuser 1 or 2 without inserting a key inserted in the lock. The opening includes a door and a trunk of thevehicle 3.
The digital identification key K3 is instead paired with thevehicle 3, more specifically thesystem 4. This key K3 authorizes thetelephone connection 10 with thesystem 4 upon receipt from theserver 30 via thetelephone 10, so that theuser 1 can enter thevehicle 3. Similarly, once received by thetelephone 20, under certain conditions as defined below, the key K3 authorizes thetelephone connection 20 with thesystem 4 so that theuser 2 can enter thevehicle 3.
Initially, the key K3 is securely maintained in thesystem 4 and on theserver 30.
Thephones 10 and 20 are smart phones that are configured in a manner to communicate by means of various wireless communication standards, in particular LTE, NFC, bluetooth, Wi-Fi, etc., and for running various applications.
In the context of the present invention, each of thetelephones 10 and 20 constitutes a personal electronic device that is carried by itsrespective user 1 or 2.
As described below, thetelephones 10 and 20 may preferably be connected to thekeyless entry system 4 of thevehicle 3 via a dedicated application. The application carries reference content a10 on thephone 10 and reference content a20 on thephone 20; it should be understood that a single software application is involved. Thephones 10 and 20 may also be connected to theserver 30 through the same application a10 or a 20. For example,phones 10 and 20 may also connect to cloud 40 through other applications such as an internet navigation system.
Theserver 30 is dedicated to storing data relating to thevehicle 3, in particular the identification key K3 and data relating to thetelephones 10 and 20 configured to be connected to thevehicle 3.
Whenuser 1 installs application a10 on theirphone 10 and identifies them to theserver 30 as the primary user of thevehicle 3, the key K3 is sent by theserver 30 to thephone 10.
Conversely, ifuser 2 is not the primary user ofvehicle 3, thenserver 30 cannot send key K3 directly tophone 20 to allow it to accessvehicle 3.
After installation of application a10, thephone 10 is configured in a manner to establish awireless link 13 with theserver 30. Also, after installation of application a20,phone 20 is configured in a manner to establishwireless communication link 23 withserver 30. The communication links 13 and 23 preferably use the Wi-Fi or LTE standards or any other advanced mobile standard.
Theuser 1 may download initialization parameters specific to thevehicle 3 from theserver 30 to theirphone 10. The user parameters P10 that have been stored in thephone 10 then include initialization parameters.
In practice, thephone 10 is required to initialize parameters in order to establish thecommunication link 10 with thevehicle 3. Such initialization parameters include the bluetooth address of thevehicle 1 and the identification key K3. Thus, thecommunication link 11 is automatically established when thephone 10 is at a set distance from thesystem 4 and includes the initialization parameters (including the key K3) downloaded from theserver 30.
The initialization parameters may also include default values for the adjustable parameter P3 corresponding to thevehicle 3, such as seat position, adjustment of the air conditioning and heating system, and settings for the radio.
Other initialization parameters may be provided without departing from the scope of the present invention.
After installation of the dedicated application a10 and retrieval of the key K3, thephone 10 is configured in a manner to establish awireless communication link 11 with thevehicle 3. Similarly, after installation of the dedicated application a20, thephone 20 is configured in a manner to establish awireless communication link 21 with thevehicle 3, but does not have the key K3 as long as theuser 2 is not the primary user of thevehicle 3. Preferably, the communication links 11 and 21 use the NFC standard ("near field communication") and/or the bluetooth standard.
Thephone 10 is configured in a manner to transmit the key K3 to thesystem 4 via the application a10 and thecommunication link 11 in order to authorize theuser 1 to enter thevehicle 3. In this case, thecommunication link 11 uses the NFC standard, and the data exchange is secure. Preferably, thecommunication link 11 is established automatically when thephone 10 is at a set distance from thesystem 4.
Similarly, whenphone 20 is valid to handle key K3,phone 20 may send the key K3 tosystem 4 via application A20 andcommunication link 21.
The user parameter P10 corresponding to the adjustable parameter P3 of thevehicle 3 may be saved in thephone 10. More specifically, the user parameter P10 is saved in the application a 10. Thephone 10 is configured in such a way that the parameter P3 of thevehicle 3 is updated with its user parameter P10 by means of the application a10 and thecommunication link 11. In this case, thecommunication link 11 uses the bluetooth standard. When the user changes the parameter P3 of the vehicle 3 (whether stopped or moving) during use, the parameter P10 is automatically updated within thephone 10 via thecommunication link 11. In addition, the parameter P10 may be modified by the user directly on thephone 10, such as via application A10.
Similarly, a user parameter P20 corresponding to the adjustable parameter P3 of thevehicle 3 may be saved in thephone 20. More specifically, the user parameter P20 is saved in the application a 20.
Thecloud 40 is a collection of interconnected hardware, networks, and software that is accessible from anywhere in the world.
Thecloud 40 may be a service provided by a service provider such as Google or Apple.
Similarly, thetelephone 10 is configured in a manner to establish awireless communication link 14 with theserver 40. Similarly,phone 20 is configured in a manner to establishwireless communication link 24 withserver 40. The communication links 14 and 24 preferably use Wi-Fi or LTE standards or any other advanced mobile standard.
Thetelephones 10 and 20 are configured in a manner to establish awireless communication link 12 with each other. Thecommunication link 12 preferably uses GSM, LTE or any other mobile standard. However, thecommunication link 12 is limited to telephone calls and sending SMS and MMS messages.
For more complex data exchanges, such as e-mail,phones 10 and 20 may connect to cloud 40 viacommunication links 14 and 24.
For some specific data exchanges, in particular relating to thevehicle 3, thetelephones 10 and 20 may be connected to theserver 30 by means ofcommunication links 13 and 23.
In practice, thesystem 100 may be configured differently than in FIGS. 1-3 without departing from the scope of the invention.
As a variant, thephones 10 and/or 20 may be replaced with an electronic watch, a digital tablet or a passive entry card, thus forming a personal electronic device having the characteristics described above for thephone 10. Other personal electronic devices may be implemented without departing from the scope of the invention.
According to another variant, thesystem 100 may comprise more than two personalelectronic devices 10 and 20 paired with thesystem 4 equipped to thevehicle 3.
According to another variant, thesystem 100 may compriseseveral vehicles 3 equipped withkeyless entry devices 4 paired with thesame phone 10.
The method according to the invention for exchanging data between theusers 1 and 2 of thevehicle 3 comprises a preparation phase and a transmission phase. This method is indicated below with reference to fig. 2 and 3 and tables 1 to 5:
table 1 shows various data implemented within the method according to the invention;
table 2 shows the data held by each entity at the beginning of the preparation step;
table 3 shows the data held by each entity at the end of the preparation step;
table 4 shows the data held by each entity at the beginning of the transmission phase; and
table 5 shows the data held by each entity at the end of the transmission phase.
Table 1: data embodied in the invention
| Finger scale | Explanation of the invention |
| D3 | Information about thevehicle 3 |
| D10 | Data stored intelephone 10 |
| D20 | Data stored intelephone 20 |
| D30 | Data stored on theserver 30 |
| D40 | Data stored in thecloud 40 |
| EM1 | E-mail address ofprimary user 1 |
| EM2 | Email address ofsecondary user 2 |
| ID10 | Mobile identifier assigned to application A10 oftelephone 10 |
| ID20 | Mobile identifier assigned to application a20 oftelephone 20 |
| IP10 | Temporary identifiers temporarily assigned totelephones 10 |
| IP20 | Temporary identifiers temporarily assigned totelephones 20 |
| K3 | Identification key allowingmobile phone 10 or 20 to accessvehicle 3 |
| P3 | Customizable parameters ofvehicle 3 |
| P10 | Customized parameters foruser 1 |
| P20 | Customized parameters foruser 2 |
The preparation phase comprisessteps 1a), 1b), 1c) and 1d) relating to theuser 1 and thephone 10, and steps 2a), 2b), 2c) and 2d) relating to theuser 2 and the phone 20).
Instep 1a), the e-mail address EM1 ofuser 1 is saved in thephone 10 and the application a10 is installed in thephone 10. More specifically, the email address EM1 is manually saved by theuser 1, and the installer a10 is downloaded from the internet.
Instep 1b), the application a10 already installed on thephone 10 connects to thecloud 40.
In step 1c), thecloud 40 assigns the permanent mobile identifier ID10 to the application a10 already installed on the phone and assigns the temporary mobile identifier IP10 to thephone 10. The identifier ID10 is referred to as permanent because it is positively assigned to application a10 unless the application is uninstalled from thephone 10. The identifier IP10 is referred to as temporary because it is temporarily assigned to thephone 10 based on its geographic location. The identifier IP10 depends inter alia on the cell site to which the phone is connected.
Conventionally, steps 1b) and 1c) are performed when the application a10 is first launched immediately after it is installed on thephone 10 by theuser 1.
Preferably,step 1b) is performed automatically afterstep 1a), and step 1c) is performed automatically afterstep 1 b). In other words,steps 1a), 1b) and 1c) are carried out continuously in this order.
Instep 1d), application a10 sends data including email address EM1 and identifier ID10 toserver 30.
Step 1d) is always carried out aftersteps 1a), 1b) and 1 c).
Afterstep 1d), astep 1e) may be performed in which theserver 30 sends certain data relating to the vehicle 3 (including the identification key K3 and the customizable parameters P3) to thephone 10 and more particularly to the application a 10.
Afterstep 1e),step 1f) may be performed, wherein theuser 1 accesses thevehicle 3 with thephone 10, more specifically using application a10 and key K3.
Steps 2a) to 2d) are similar tosteps 1a) to 1d) described above, except that they relate touser 2,phone 20 and application a20, but notuser 1,phone 10 and application a 10.
On the other hand, steps 1e) and 1f) are not applicable tousers 2 who are not primary users of thevehicle 3. For this reason, theserver 30 cannot send the key K3 directly to thephone 20 in order to allow the phone to access thevehicle 3.
Table 2: the preparation step starts
| Entity | Storeddata |
| 1 | EM1, (EM2) |
| 2 | EM2, (EM1) |
| D3 | K3, P3 |
| D10 | |
| D20 | |
| D30 | K3, P3 |
| D40 | (EM1, EM2) |
Table 3: the preparation step is ended
| Entity | Storeddata |
| 1 | EM1, (EM2) |
| 2 | EM2, (EM1) |
| D3 | K3, P3, P10 |
| D10 | ID10, EM1, K3, P3, P1 |
| D20 | ID20, EM2 |
| D30 | ID10, ID20, EM1, EM2, K3, P3, P10 |
| D40 | ID10, ID20, IP10, IP20, (EM1, EM2) |
The transmission phase comprises steps 3a), 3b) and 3c), which can only be performed aftersteps 1d) and 2d) have been performed. In addition,user 1 must haveuser 2'semail address EM 2.
In a known manner, thesubscriber 1 has the possibility of exchanging data with thesubscriber 2 by means of the communication link 22 or by means of thecommunication link 14+ 24.
However, in order to exchange information about thevehicle 3, it is more practical and safer to use the dedicated application A10/A20 already installed on thephones 10 and 20 and to pass these data through thecommunication link 13+34+ 24.
For this purpose, theuser 1 manually and intentionally initiates the transmission phase as detailed below.
In step 3a), the application a10 already installed on thephone 10 sends data to theserver 30 including the email address EM2 and instructions for transmitting T3 information K3 and/or P10 about thevehicle 3.
Instep 3b), in response to the instruction T3, theserver 30 transmits data including the mobile identifier ID20 and the information K3 and/or P10 about thevehicle 3 to thecloud 40.
Instep 3c), thecloud 40 sends information K3 and/or P10 about thevehicle 3 to the application a20 already installed on thephone 20.
Advantageously, at each step in the transmission, the information is encrypted.
According to a preferred embodiment ofstep 3c), thecloud 40 uses the permanent identifier ID20 in order to identify the temporary identifier IP20 currently assigned to the second personalelectronic device 20. Thecloud 40 then uses the temporary identifier IP20 to send information K3 and/or P10 about thevehicle 3 to thephone 20.
Preferably, in steps 3a) to 3c), the information relating to thevehicle 3 comprises at least an identification key K3.
In this case, afterstep 3c), astep 3d) may be performed in which theuser 2 accesses thevehicle 3 using thephone 20, more specifically using the application a10 and the key K3.
Alternatively or additionally, the information about thevehicle 3 may include a customized parameter P10 defined by theuser 1.
Other information about thevehicle 3 may be transmitted by implementing the method defined above, without going beyond the scope of the present invention.
The invention thus allows a practical, efficient and secure data exchange between users.
The exchange is more complex than sending SMS or email, but using a dedicated application requires less manual user action and is also more secure.
Table 4: beginning of transmission phase
| Entity | Storeddata |
| 1 | EM1,EM2 |
| 2 | EM2, (EM1) |
| D3 | K3, P3, P10 |
| D10 | ID10, EM1, K3, P3, P10 |
| D20 | ID20, EM2 |
| D30 | ID10, 1D20, EM1, EM2, K3, P3, P10 |
| D40 | ID10, ID20, IP10, IP20, (EM1, EM2) |
Table 5: end of transmission phase
| Entity | Storeddata |
| 1 | EM1 |
| 2 | EM2 |
| D3 | K3, P3, P20 |
| D10 | ID10, EM1, K3, P3, P10 |
| D20 | ID2, EM2, K3, P10, P20 |
| D30 | ID10, 1D20, EM1, EM2, K3, P3, P10, P20 |
| D40 | ID1, ID2, IP1, IP2, (EM1, EM2) |
In practice, the technical features of the various embodiments and variants mentioned above may be combined with each other, in whole or in part.
Thus, the method and system for exchanging data may be adjustable in cost, ergonomics, functionality and performance.